We are giving detailed information about how to prepare for upsc exam, how to choose the UPSC book list, how to prepare for upsc prelims, how to prepare for upsc mains, and how to prepare for the UPSC interview. We are going to tell you the complete information about how to make a strategy for the UPSC exam. We are going to give an example of the UPSC exam topper strategy.
You need an integrated approach to prepare for the UPSC exam. That means preparation for prelims and mains should be combined. Every day You have to write answers to at least five questions for mains and solve five questions for prelims and analyze them. More than 80% of upsc toppers follow this method.
The UPSC exam is conducted in three parts-
1. Prelims Exam 2.Main 3. Interview
How to Prepare for UPSC Prelims –
UPSC Prelims consist of two papers -1. General Studies (GS paper1) 2.Civil Services Attitude Test(CSAT paper 2)
Prelims is the most difficult stage and difficult part of the UPSC exam. But out of lakhs of students, only a few thousand students qualify for the preliminary exam. Prelims are like a sprint while mains are like a long marathon. The format of the exam is objective-type questions.
The most important thing for prelims is that you have to prepare for mock tests. Even if you can’t take a mock test of coaching classes, you have to practice upsc old question papers. Your timetable for the exam needs to be solid. Although for prelims one has to read at least one book, one has to revise that book well. UPSC Prelims General Study Paper 1 and Paper 2 have different marking systems every year (cut-off) but for the CSAT paper, you need to get 27 out of 80 questions correct. The marking system of the CSAT paper has not changed to date. While preparing for the prelims, don’t forget the main exam.
how to start upsc preparation from zero level-
UPSC Prelims Strategy–
1. Short Booklist – For the UPSC Pre exam you need to read a minimum number of books and revise it frequently. We have prepared a special book list for you by researching and analyzing the list of many toppers. But you can customize the booklist according to your needs and abilities. You have to read the common books given in the booklist, but apart from this, if you feel that a book is necessary to read, you can also add it to your booklist. The booklist should be your own and self-made.
For one subject you need to read minimum books like for Indian Polity you need to read NCERT book for 6th to 12th and for advanced study you need to read Indian Polity book by M Laxmikant. Except for M Laxmikant’s book on Indian polity, you don’t need Bare Act book or any other author’s book. No need to read any topper’s notes if you read Ncert and M Laxmikant’s book. Make a book list yourself and include at least one book in the book list.
2. Revision- Rather than reading three books on a single subject, one should read one book on a subject and revise it often. Concepts are cleared by revision. It is not only beneficial to read a book but it is very important to revise it frequently. Some toppers revise the UPSC Indian Politics book 15 times. Revision keeps readers focused and concepts clear. Even though people have clear concepts, they fail the questions because they haven’t revised the topic. At least one hour a day should be given for revision and once a week should be given for revision. Planning should be done for daily, weekly, and monthly revision.
3. Make Notes – Making notes is helpful for revision. Prepare short notes for each subject. Like, make 15-page short notes for Polity’s subject. While reading a book, make short notes from it. Once the book is read, short notes reading and revision should be continued. If you don’t understand a concept or the solved question is wrong, write its analysis in short notes. An upsc topper reads a book once but revises it many times. You can revise short notes while you are traveling. Notes made on paper are always more beneficial than making notes online.
4. upsc csat strategy – Don’t ignore the CSAT paper and practice the cast paper. Many students do not understand the importance of cast paper. Students with engineering backgrounds and medical backgrounds can’t qualify csat papers because they ignore csat papers. On the contrary, many students with an arts background pass the CSAT paper easily. Because they are a bit serious and prepare for CSAT paper. Don’t prepare for CSAT with overconfidence. Be a little serious and prepare for the Csat paper. If you look at it, CSAT paper is easy to qualify as you need to get only 27 questions correct out of 80 questions. Reasoning, Maths, and English passages should be divided into three topics and studied accordingly. If your Maths is weak then you should focus on Reasoning and English Passage. Similarly, if your English is weak then you should prepare well for Maths and Reasoning. If you study the cast paper honestly, within one to two months you can prepare well for the CSAT paper and you can easily qualify for the CSAT paper.
5. Test series – If you can’t afford to take mock tests for prelims and mains of any classes, then you can take UPSC old question papers and solve the old upsc question papers of prelims and mains and analyze it. Books boost your confidence whereas test series reduce your overconfidence. At least you should solve and analyze 1000 questions before the prelims exam, 1000 questions means 10 test papers on average. Similarly, for the main exam, you should answer at least three to five questions. For Prelims, you should analyze at least 5 questions every day and similarly for Mains you should write answer 3 to 5 questions. Just reading a book or revising a lot of times doesn’t mean you are prepared for the UPSC exam. Analyzing the mistakes you make in the test series and the questions you get wrong, making short notes, and re-reading them increases your confidence.
UPSC Mains Exam Strategy-
1. Read less write more–
Less time should be spent on reading for the main exam and more time should be spent on revision and answer writing. Answer writing is an art manual. So all of writing automatically improves your handwriting as well as increases your writing speed and increases your logical thinking power. By practicing writing, you automatically get the knowledge of which question to solve in how much time, how many words to write, and how the answer should be arranged. You don’t need to read any new study material while preparing for the exam but it is important to revise what you have read and make relevant notes. Papers of optional subjects and General Studies should be revised as much as possible and written as much as possible. You don’t need to do any special revision for the essay paper but if you revise what you have read it will help you for the essay paper. For the main exam, you need a lot of revision and answer writing. One thing you have to keep in mind while preparing for the main exam is that for main exam you need to read a minimum of books and revise the book many times.
2. Write Everyday– Write the answer to at least five questions every day. UPSC mains exam general study papers One, Two, Three, and Four are for 250 marks each. There are two General Studies papers in one day during UPSC Mains Exam. A General Studies paper consists of an average of 20 questions. So if there are two General Studies papers in a day, you have to answer 60 questions in a given day. So after clearing the prelims exam, you have to write at least 25 to 50 questions every day. To a large extent you have to prepare mentally for writing the answer.
You have to write answers for at least 5 questions daily before pre-examination. If you are writing history answer today, you should write geography answer tomorrow and polity answer the next day. Although General Study Paper 4 Ethics Integrity paper is easy. A six paper has to be solved logically and logical answers have to be given. After planning the optional subject and general study paper properly, write the answer accordingly. Special preparation and writing of ethics and integrity papers should be done. At least 10 to 15 essays should be written before the main exam.
3. Select a scoring optional subject – If you are confused about which optional subject to choose, then you should solve four to five question papers of the optional subject of UPSC. This will help you understand which subject you like and which optional subject you can write well. While choosing the optional subject of upsc you should keep in mind that the paper of which optional subject is easy and scoring. So also think that you need to choose an optional subject for which you need to read the least books so that you will have time for revision and writing.
History, geography, polity, and economics syllabus of optional subjects like these are useful in prelims and mains exams also. A subject like History is very vast whereas a subject like Polity is simple and short. Economics optional subject is a bit of technical knowledge. The Geography optional is easy but requires you to be able to read maps. Make short notes of the optional subject revise it and then write.
4. Making a good timetable-
One thing you need to keep in mind for success in mains is that you need to give maximum time for answer writing and then some time for revision. It is possible to do less revision at one time but maximum time should be given for answer writing. You have to prepare the timetable for the day, week, and month. The timetable should not be too flexible and should not be too rigid. You should be able to take charge of your timetable and enforce the timetable. It is your duty to follow the timetable every day. You should write the prepared timetable on a paper and read it daily. In the timetable, provision should be made for general study papers one to four, optional subjects, essay, revision, and answer writing. You should make a schedule according to your choice and time.
UPSC interview strategy –
UPSC interview is not just an interview but a personality test. Your personality and your nature are the real test. According to Toppers, an upsc interview is a pleasant experience. Don’t get tense about the UPSC interview before the pre-examination or before clearing the pre-examination. If you qualify for the UPSC interview, it means that you have talent, knowledge, and skill. However, while preparing for UPSC, you should know about yourself, what are your hobbies, what is your favorite subject, your college subject, and how much you know about socio-economic-political issues. You need to improve your language style and body language. You need to practice a lot for the interview. Stand in front of the mirror and ask yourself questions that will boost your confidence